At the Bay Bridge's 1936 opening, Gov. Frank F. Merriam and President Herbert Hoover were among the dignitaries.

Photo: Chronicle File, The Chronicle

At the Bay Bridge's 1936 opening, Gov. Frank F. Merriam and...

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November 12, 1936 - California Governor Merriam addresses the crowd at opening day ceremonies of the Bay Bridge before the chain cutting on the East Bay side at the Oakland toll plaza. The governor then crossed to the San Francisco side and cut another chain. photographer unknown/ San Francisco Chronicle File 1936

The San Francisco Bay Area celebrated the Golden Gate Bridge'a 75th Anniversary Sunday May 27, 2012 with a spectacular fireworks show. (Lance Iversen / The Chronicle)

The San Francisco Bay Area celebrated the Golden Gate Bridge'a 75th...

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50th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge opening on May 24, 1987. 800,000 people participated in the early morning Bridge Walk. The weight of the people made the center span flatten out for the first time in history.

Photo: John O'Hara, Sfc

50th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge opening on May 24,...

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Opening day of the Golden Gate Bridge, 1937. Pedestrians walk on the brdige, while planes fly between the North and South Towers of the bridge during opening day.

Photo: Chronicle File Photo

Opening day of the Golden Gate Bridge, 1937. Pedestrians walk on...

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Pedestrians walk across the Golden Gate Bridge on May 27, 1937.

Photo: San Francisco Chronicle

Pedestrians walk across the Golden Gate Bridge on May 27, 1937.

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Thousands of people gather at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge for the 50th anniversary celebration on May 24, 1987.

Photo: Frederic Larson, The Chronicle

Thousands of people gather at the south end of the Golden Gate...

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Some of the first cars crossing the Bay Bridge on opening day. Nov. 11, 1936.

Photo: Chronicle File, The Chronicle

Some of the first cars crossing the Bay Bridge on opening day. Nov....

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Beyond the Oakland toll gate, Governor Frank Merriam addresses a crowd just before he applies a blow torch to the chain and opens the East Bay side of the span, during the Bay Bridge opening fiesta, 1936.

Photo: The Chronicle

Beyond the Oakland toll gate, Governor Frank Merriam addresses a...

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Former President Herbert Hoover at the opening fiesta of the Bay Bridge, 1936.

Photo: The Chronicle

Former President Herbert Hoover at the opening fiesta of the Bay...

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Nov. 12, 1936: More from the opening festivities. Before a fireworks display, military ships surrounded the Bay Bridge and offered a light show.

Nov. 12, 1936: More from the opening festivities. Before a...

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California Governor Frank Merriam, surrounded by other dignitaries, prepares to use a blow torch to cut through a chain marking the opening of the Bay Bridge on November 12, 1936.

"I think it's important. This is one of the biggest public works projects in history," Haggerty said. "It's a reason to celebrate."

The public walk is just part of the party. Other bridge bash events - including a fireworks show, a concert on Treasure Island, and a bike race and 12.5-mile run from Oakland City Hall to San Francisco City Hall - will be paid for by millions in private contributions.

A good chunk of the public money - $1.8 million - will go into just getting the walkers to the bridge's eastern end, which is pretty much walled off to pedestrians by freeways.

The idea is to have about 15,000 walkers an hour shuttled to the base of the bridge from Oakland BART stations.

The walk will be held on the final day of a five-day shutdown of all traffic on the Bay Bridge, starting at 8 p.m. Aug. 28.

The first 3 1/2 days of the shutdown will be used to hook up the new span at Yerba Buena Island and get it ready for the opening.

On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 1, as many as 15,000 bicyclists will be allowed for a fee to ride from Oakland to San Francisco - followed by the concert and fireworks that night.

On Labor Day morning, a footrace is planned from Oakland City Hall to San Francisco City Hall. It would be followed by a shorter, 10-kilometer race, if organizers can figure out a starting point and devise a way to get people there.

Once the footraces are over, 125,000 to 150,000 people who request free advance tickets will be shuttled from BART to the east side of the Bay Bridge for a 5-mile-or-so trek to San Francisco.

As for how all those walkers and runners will get back to the East Bay? The plan is for them to ride BART.

By the way, we're told the deal was vetted by a number of public agencies and officials - all the way up to Gov. Jerry Brown's office - before going public.

Even after meeting with the sheriff to help draw up guidelines, the American Civil Liberties Union says it is still against the plan, thus promising a big debate.

"The proposal from the sheriff just isn't there yet," said ACLU spokesman Will Matthews.

The Sheriff's Department's guidelines specify that the 4-pound, unarmed drone would be used on an "mission-specific" basis for situations such as hostage-takings, searches, fires, bomb threats, and cases in which deputies think a felony has happened or is happening.

The drone would not be used for routine patrols, the guidelines say.

In a letter to supervisors, however, the ACLU says nothing would prevent information collected by the drone from being given to federal and state agencies -and that this "strongly" suggests it "would be used for intelligence-gathering purposes."

The ACLU is also concerned about what deputies would do if the drone happened to spot a marijuana farm or similar operation in the course of doing something else.

Sheriff's Capt. Tom Madigan, who tried to work out a deal with the ACLU, summed up law enforcement's view of the split, saying: "I don't think the ACLU is as strongly interested as we are in public safety and the apprehension and conviction of criminals."

The drone issue was first aired in committee back in December, but was tabled when it became clear that the full Board of Supervisors was split on the issue.

From the looks of things, little has changed.

Flash dance: San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimididn't get a personal invitation to the big gathering with other city leaders opposing domestic violence planned for Valentine's Day on the steps of City Hall - so he's having his own party.

Mirkarimi, who has been largely shunned by Mayor Ed Leesince pleading guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment in connection with a fight with his wife, has arranged for prisoners and jail staffers to take part in a flash mob-style dance at the county lockup at San Bruno and at the women's jail downtown. Like the City Hall event, it's part of an international "One Billion Rising" campaign Thursday against domestic violence.

Both prisoners and staffers have been busy this week practicing their routine to the campaign's five-minute musical anthem, "Break the Chain."

"I'm pretty excited about this," Mirkarimi said. "We are the only sheriff's department in the state or country doing this."